'Firm, fast and consistent,' the role of an Aussie greenkeeper at the US Open

The US Open ran from June 15-18, with Mr Foster and 140 other staff arriving daily at 3.30am to set up the course before play until 9am, and in the evenings from 5-10pm.

"I was leading the fairway mowing crew, there were 20 fairway mowers, and in the afternoon I was leading the hand watering team, so we would hand water fairways and everything with hoses," Mr Foster said.

"Our goal is to create a playing surface that is firm, fast and consistent. First to make the golf courses as difficult as possible we want it to be firm and fast, and to be as fair as possible it has to be consistent.

"Each member has a different role, so there may have been 20 guys filling diverts, 15 guys that mow greens, eight guys that hand water, fix ball marks, just blowing and cleaning up," Mr Foster said.

"The night time is just a really big cleanup, making sure that all the day's plays [are] tidied up ready for a fresh start in the morning."

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At 16, Mr Foster began his career working in a pro golf shop, before he completed a greenkeeping apprenticeship at the Tura Beach Country Club in 2013.

With an extensive career so far, he has worked at Sydney's Roseville Golf Club, United Kingdom's Wimbledon and the Old Course at St Andrews, in the United States at Los Angeles Country Club, and as assistant superintendent at the Liberty National Golf Club, which hosted the PGA Northern Trust Tournament and the President Cup Tournament.

"I've worked at some of the top golf courses in the world when I was over in the States, so it's nice to be able to sort of see both sides of the industry," Mr Foster said.

"I guess the biggest and best, through to country courses, and what we can achieve at both."

Mr Foster described his role as being in charge of anything that grows, maintaining everything outside the clubhouse.

"Tura is a little bit unique. The town is almost built and focused around the golf course rather than the other way around. [It's] almost like the community town centre."

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